Money saving tricks

[Libby]

I'm always curious about how people save money for travel and what they do when they hit the road.

What are some of your cost cutting tricks? Here are a few of mine.

Instead of that expensive micro-fibre, quick drying travel towel, check out the automotive department at Wal-Mart (or Canadian Tire). There you will find a micro-fibre, quick drying Chamois for drying your car. Exact same product, half the price.

Save your Altoid tins! The bigger size makes a great first aid kit filled with only what you NEED. The small tin is perfect for a bit of thread, a needle or two and a few buttons.

If you buy mesh bags at a sports/travel store they can be a bit expensive. They are great on the road for keeping dirty clothes away from clean clothes while still allowing them to breath. Check with some local shoe stores to see if they have any of the cheap, disposable shoe bags. If not, you can pick up shoe bags at a Dollar store. They work the same way, but are dirty cheap.

Knee highs are cheap and make a great packing tube for socks, undies and other small items.

Instead of travel locks for your daypack, consider a key chain. They hook through your zippers and secure your pack from fast fingers. They also can double as a patch on your pack if you want to carry a flag. That way you don't have to risk the waterproof qualities of your pack by stitching it.

Buy some Kraft Dinner before you go and use the macaroni in another dish. Keep the cheese packets for your trip and you can make KD anytime on the road. My friend did this while going around Vietnam and was able to get two means out of each pack. He only ever used half a pack at a time.

[snorkelman]

One of the best things that I have learned from others is as follows:

If you have some old clothes that you are going to throw out – do not throw them out. Set them aside and place them into ziplocks and pack them into your backpack at the top (so that they will be the first clothes that you encounter when you open your backpack). Wear this old clothing for your first week in Europe. When it is dirty, just throw it away or leave it in a hostel. This allows you to lighten your backpack and also allows you to travel for about 2 weeks without doing laundry (at the end of your second week you will only have 1 week’s worth of dirty clothes to wash (because you have discarded the other week’s worth of clothes).

[WillTravel]

I've heard that recommended, but here's my problem with it. If the clothes are bad enough to throw out, then I don't want to wear them where anyone is going to see them.

[Tracie]

I know what you mean Will...I think that I wouldn't mind spending some extra time/money to do laundry instead of feeling grubby in old clothes.

[snorkelman]

The concerns raised can easily be remedied as follows, instead of using clothes ready for the trash, use some clothes that are still nice, but clothes that you don’t need any more (and which you might have considered to donate anyway).

It's just an idea. Of course it should not be used to save a few Euro to look like a bum for a week!

[Emma]

In my case, I've gotten so many free t-shirts over the years, that I've decided to wear a few of them until they are almost ready to go (but are still presentable) and I'll take those with. My basic standard is that once something gets a small hole in it, I toss it in a box, and then before I leave I can sort through and take the shirts that I like/ are still ok to wear around/ etc... Of course, I have a tendancy to wear these t-shirts on a regular basis at home, so for me, it's like going back to an old friend one last time. Plus, I really like the idea of that extra space in my pack, because I know I'm going to want to buy some clothes to remind me of my trip.

[Joanna]

I pack all my stuff in those space-saver bags (you know, the ones where you squeeze the air out of the bag until it's really small). I bring an extra for dirty clothes. It's similar to the shoe-bag idea, but this way you can seperate your clothes and save space (makes your bag a bit heavier though). The bags are fairly inexpensive and come in multiple sizes.

[dylan1601]

Back to the t-shirt idea, it would seem like it might be a good idea to take your old t-shirts with you, with your university name or whatever on it, that you probably have a million of and perhaps trade them or give them away to your new friends in the hostels, making more room in your pack for souvenirs or maybe other t-shirts. i know i would love to give up some of my t-shirts (which i have only worn a few times) to have a shirt that no one around here would be able to buy!!